The Seychelles will become the first African nation to host the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, taking place from May 1-11, 2025.
The brand launch for the event took place at Kempinski Seychelles Resort on Mahé Island, and was attended by the President of the Republic of Seychelles, Wavel Ramkalawan, and Seychelles Football Federation President, Elvis Chetty.
“The FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2025 isn’t merely a tournament; it’s a beacon of opportunity for the Seychelles. Hosting an event of this magnitude has a significant impact, promising to usher in an era of unparalleled growth and development for our islands and the football community at large,” said Chetty.
With the Seychelles as the host nation, its national team will be competing in the tournament for the first time. For the event, a new 4 000-capacity beach soccer stadium is expected to be constructed in Roche Caiman, which will then be dismantled and moved to other parts of the Seychelles as two smaller stadiums to continue the development of beach soccer.
Ramkalawan said the people of Seychelles needed to understand that the tournament was much bigger than anything Seychelles had hosted before.
“We are now overtaking the Indian Ocean or a zone in Africa; now we are going global,” he said. “With Seychelles' size, we will never be able to host a normal Football World Cup, but as small as we are, we can host the Beach Soccer World Cup.”
First held in 2005, the 2025 event will be the 13th instalment of the tournament.
